LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Creighton recognizes that situations may occur requiring an individual to take a leave of absence. The Human Resources Department will review each case on an individual basis to determine if the leave of absence qualifies for job protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or Family Military Leave Under the FMLA/NFMLA. Please contact Lenora Salts at 402-280-4753 to discuss eligibility status.

Non-Qualified Medical Leaves of Absence

In the event an employee needs to take a leave of absence for his/her own illness, and the employee is ineligible for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it is within the discretion of the employee's supervisor, administrator, or dean to grant an unpaid medical leave of absence. Request forms can be obtained by contacting Lenora Salts at 402-280-4753.

While on a non-qualified medical leave, the employee's position is not protected by law.

If the employee participates in the group disability insurance plan and his/her illness extends beyond 14 calendar days, the employee may be eligible to receive paid disability benefits during the leave. Employee must coordinate application for disability benefits with Human Resources, if applicable. For more information on group disability benefits, please go to the Group Disability Insurance page.

Disability Leave

In the event an employee needs to take a leave of absence for an illness, and the employee is ineligible for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it is within the discretion of the employee's supervisor, administrator, or dean to grant an unpaid disability leave of absence. If the employee participates in the group disability insurance plan and his/her illness extends beyond 30 calendar days, the employee may be eligible to receive paid disability benefits during the leave.

While on a disability leave:

employee's position is not protected by law.

employee must coordinate application for disability benefits with Human Resources, if applicable.

employee may use accrued vacation hours as appropriate.

Military Leave

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994("USERRA") is a federal law which:

makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse an employee's military leave of absence; or

to discriminate in employment or re-employment based on military service.

Any employee who is or may be called up for active duty; active or inactive duty training; full-time National Guard duty; absence from work for an exam to determine a person's fitness for any form of duty; or to perform funeral honors duty by National Guard or reserve members should consult with the Human Resources staff for a complete explanation of the employee's rights under USERRA. An employee must provide advance written or verbal notice to Creighton of all expected military duty, unless giving notice is impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity. For purposes of this law, the term "service" means performing military duty on a commission or non-commission status, and on a voluntary or involuntary basis, in a uniformed service.

Commitments for temporary active duty with the military reserve or National Guard should be scheduled for non-work periods. If temporary active duty cannot be completed using vacation, the University will make up the difference between any lost University pay and the military pay earned while on active duty.

Sick Leave

Benefit-eligible, full- and part-time employees accrue sick leave from the first day of employment. Employees are not eligible to use sick leave until after completion of 90-days of employment or re-employment.

A sick leave balance, expressed in hours, will appear on the deposit advice the pay period following the completion of 90-days of employment.

The available sick leave hours are updated each pay period to reflect sick hours taken and additional hours earned.

Unused sick leave will accrue up to a maximum of 240 hours (30 days).

The employee will not receive any pay for hours missed if sick leave hours are not available.

Unused sick leave hours are not payable at the time of retirement or separation of service.

Accrued sick leave may be used for the following reasons:

Personal illness. If an illness extends beyond three days or the staff member is hospitalized, the staff member should apply for protection under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It is the supervisor’s responsibility to immediately report potential FMLA situations to Human Resources.

Illness of a member of the immediate family when one’s presence and assistance is necessary in an emergency situation. Immediate family is defined as a spouse, dependent children, and parents (including parents-in-law). Staff should return to work when the crisis or emergency has passed. With coordination and approval from the staff’s supervisor, accrued vacation time may be used after the emergency situation has subsided and the family member needs further care. Staff should contact Human Resources in situations involving extended care to determine if FMLA applies.

Sick leave hours may be used for doctor or dental appointments and to accompany dependent children or spouse when the staff’s presence is necessary. These appointments must be coordinated and approved by the supervisor in advance. Appointments need to be made at a time that presents the least amount of inconvenience or interruption to the office.